US Marines, Omani Soldiers begin Exercise Sea Soldier 17

SALALAH, Oman - Launching from the amphibious transport dock ship USS Somerset (LPD 25) off the coast of Oman, more than 250 U.S. Marines and Sailors with the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group (MKI ARG)/11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) began training alongside soldiers from the Royal Army of Oman’s 11th Brigade for Exercise Sea Soldier in Salalah, Oman, Feb. 19, 2017.

U.S. Marine Cpl. Johnathan Riethmann, a mortarman with Company A, Battalion Landing Team 1st Bn., 4th Marines, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, walks to a staging area at Senoor Beach, Oman, in preparation for Exercise Sea Soldier, Feb. 15. Sea Soldier 2017 is an annual, bilateral exercise conducted with the Royal Army of Oman designed to demonstrate the cooperative skill and will of U.S. and partner nations to work together in maintaining regional stability and security. USS Somerset, with the embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is deployed in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of maritime security operations designed to reassure allies and partners, preserve the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce and enhance regional stability.

US Marines, Omani Soldiers begin Exercise Sea Soldier 17

U.S. Marine Cpl. Johnathan Riethmann, a mortarman with Company A, Battalion Landing Team 1st Bn., 4th Marines, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, walks to a staging area at Senoor Beach, Oman, in preparation for Exercise Sea Soldier, Feb. 15. Sea Soldier 2017 is an annual, bilateral exercise conducted with the Royal Army of Oman designed to demonstrate the cooperative skill and will of U.S. and partner nations to work together in maintaining regional stability and security. USS Somerset, with the embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is deployed in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of maritime security operations designed to reassure allies and partners, preserve the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce and enhance regional stability.

Led by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and hosted by the Royal Army of Oman, the annual, two-weeklong bilateral exercise aims to enhance communication and coordination between U.S. and Omani forces, build mutual warfighting capability, and support long-term regional cooperation.

“Bilateral exercises, like Sea Soldier, are great opportunities for MEUs because Marines can disembark ships and conduct combat sustainment training in new, unfamiliar environments,” said Col. Clay C. Tipton, commanding officer, 11th MEU. “They have a chance to interact and learn from warriors of a different culture; and these exercises are conducted with key partners in the region to strengthen our collective ability to work together should we have to face emerging crises in the future.”

The training includes: military operations on urban terrain (MOUT), building clearing, checkpoint operations, command and control procedures, counter-IED training, live-fire ranges, squad to company tactics, mortar ranges, and a culminating final exercise, which will be a combined Omani-U.S. raid.

“Every opportunity we have to position and launch the landing forces embarked aboard the Somerset is also an opportunity for our Sailors to exercise their technical and tactical expertise,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Darren Glaser, commanding officer, USS Somerset. “Coming together as a larger, blue-green team in support of an exercise or a real world operation is exactly what we train to do.”

U.S. Marines and Sailors with the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit offload from a Landing Craft Air Cushion at Senoor Beach, Oman, before the beginning of Exercise Sea Soldier, Feb. 15. Sea Soldier 2017 is an annual, bilateral exercise conducted with the Royal Army of Oman designed to demonstrate the cooperative skill and will of U.S. and partner nations to work together in maintaining regional stability and security. USS Somerset, with the embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is deployed in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of maritime security operations designed to reassure allies and partners, preserve the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce and enhance regional stability.

US Marines, Omani Soldiers begin Exercise Sea Soldier 17

U.S. Marines and Sailors with the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit offload from a Landing Craft Air Cushion at Senoor Beach, Oman, before the beginning of Exercise Sea Soldier, Feb. 15. Sea Soldier 2017 is an annual, bilateral exercise conducted with the Royal Army of Oman designed to demonstrate the cooperative skill and will of U.S. and partner nations to work together in maintaining regional stability and security. USS Somerset, with the embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is deployed in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of maritime security operations designed to reassure allies and partners, preserve the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce and enhance regional stability.

While in the region, the Southern California-based Navy-Marine Corps team falls under Naval Amphibious Forces, Task Force 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, and will help ensure the free flow of commerce, provide crisis response and support ongoing missions in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.